DORLASTAN SPANDEX – BUSHY PARK, SC SITE

In 1995, Dorlastan Fibers took the North American spandex market by storm with the opening of its first U.S.-based spandex fiber manufacturing facility. While Dorlastan Fibers had been producing Dorlastan spandex in Germany since 1964, the company identified a strong demand for an alternative spandex supplier in North America. This prompted Dorlastan Fibers  to develop a technologically advanced facility in Bushy Park, S.C. with an initial 4,000 metric ton capacity. Modeled on Dorlastan’s exceptional Dormagen, Germany plant, which utilizes continuous polymerization processes, the Bushy Park plant was designed to maintain its exacting standards and furnished with the finest equipment available. Two years later, in 1997, Dorlastan Fibers found itself as one of the top spandex suppliers around the world, supplying Dorlastan to some of the finest mills around the world.

The response to the South Carolina facility was overwhelming as the demand for Dorlastan high-quality spandex grew. To successfully meet this new demand, in 1997 the Bushy Park plant announced expansion of its facility to increase spandex production to 7,000 metric tons annually.
The Bushy Park facility currently produces Dorlastan spandex in a full range of deniers from 10 - 1680, in both clear and dull lusters. Dull Dorlastan is outstanding in whites and light pastels, while clear echoes the colors of the yarns with which it is spun and adds brilliance and clarity to color.  In addition, the Bushy Park facility also produces a chlorine stable spandex in some deniers.

The Dorlastan Bushy Park facility originally received ISO-9002 registration from the International Standards Organization in April 1998, and currently operates a Quality Management System which complies with the requirements of ISO 9001:2000 with a scope of “development, production and distribution of spandex yarn”.
A fully operational fiber mill is maintained at the Bushy Park site to pre-test its knitting, dyeing, and finishing properties. The Dorlastan knitting application lab is committed to excellence, using only the best mill equipment including advanced warp knitting, circular knitting and hosiery machines such as Karl Mayer Warp Tricot and Raschel Knitters, several Karl Mayer Warpers, a Monarch Single Jersey Circular Knitter and a Lonati Hosiery Knitter.  The on-site dyeing and finishing lab also includes the same equipment typically installed at customer's mill facilities, enabling fabric to be dyed using either jet or beam dyers and stretched to its proper width on a tenter frame. After it is heat set, the fabric can be cut and evaluated.
On January 1, 2004, the Dorlastan Bushy Park facility became Dorlastan Fibers LLC and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Lanxess Corporation.  Dorlastan Fibers LLC is committed to being a strong supplier of quality spandex for the American market. Market research predicts a steady growth in all applications of spandex, specifically citing intimate apparel, hosiery, active wear, and swim wear. As fashion trends continue to dictate stretch and functionality, meeting the needs of this growing market has become increasing important.

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